JJG Opportunities

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reported that 12.9 million people were unemployed in April 2020. The number of unemployed people in the world is expected to increase to 190.5 million in 2020, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). Since not everyone has the same opportunities, we are committed to solving how vulnerable population can access better jobs opportunities and develop management skills.  

Aimed not only at people who live in favelas, communities and settlements, but also immigrants, and ex-prisoners, we developed an interactive gamification-based App, JJG Opportunities, combining innovation and technology to increase professional skills and provide job opportunities. JJG, which stands for Job Journey Game, is free of charge.

It can transform in-need people´s lives around the world, once the App brings an interactive way of learning, simple to download and to use, helping people prepare for job interviews or to develop their own business.

Vulnerable people, considering not only people who live in favelas, communities and settlements, but also immigrants and ex-prisoners who aim better jobs and opportunities, but do not have easy access to formal education and training. These people usually do not have opportunities. An estimate of the extreme poverty in Brazil was 13.5 mi people, who had monthly earnings below R$145 (IBGE, 2018). According to IBGE (2020), in April, 12.9mi people were unemployed in Brazil, a raising rate.

The World Bank (2018) reported that 3.4 bi people live in extreme poverty, willing to satisfy basic needs. The number of unemployed people in the world, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), is expected to increase to 190.5 million in 2020. Specially due to the coronavirus pandemic crisis, the job market is getting increasingly competitive, demanding greater preparation and development of management skills and abilities. But, unfortunately, not everyone has the same opportunities.

JJG App is an interative gamification-based App to develop vulnerable communities aiming at better job opportunities. It is easy to use, with an interactive interface, to increase employment and income opportunities for people such as immigrants, ex-prisoners; and people who live in favelas, communities and settlements.

Using game elements, users will have access to challenges and classes to stimulate entrepreneurship, learning how setting up their own business; and developing a professional career, going through phases and receiving rewards, with support from professionals in each area. Gamification uses game elements, which stimulates students promoting their persistence in a fun competition (DING, 2019).

The App brings classes about different topics, such as: how to behave in a job interview, entrepreneurship (how to set up a business) and management. JJG also allows users to create a CV (Curriculum Vitae). Users can have assistance from professionals of each area. Also, the App brings challanges to be fulfilled in each phase of the "game". 

The App will have direct contact with companies that seek to promote job opportunities and incentives, creating a social channel and enabling them to buy quotas of the App, to reach a greater number of people.

JJG Opportunities App was designed to serve mostly people who are looking for jobs or are seeking to set up their own business. Its interactive and dynamic interface was specially designed thinking about not only people who live in communities, settlements and favelas, but also ex-prisoners and immigrants. It is supposed to engage the whole community, since it is based on gamification.

Besides the clear impact on job and business opportunities for the App users, JJG must also impact the whole community. For instance, if a user sets up a business in that community, this stimulates the creation of new jobs, which improves regional development. It can be used all over the world, since this problem in global.

Our solution relates to the Challenge "Good Jobs & Inclusive Entrepreneurship: How can marginalized populations access and create good jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for themselves?". Both accessing and creating jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities are the main focus of JJG Opportunities App. Through a dynamic and gamificated interface, users from favelas, communities and settlements, as well as immigrants and ex-prisoners, can have access to phases to develop their professional skills or managerial opportunities.  

It is unique because it merges game methodology (gamification) with interaction with the job market, and the potentiality of the users becoming entrepreneurs or getting a good job opportunity.

It was specially designed to attend the communities´ needs, with a light interface, easy to use.

Software and Mobile Application using:

• PHP
• Yii2
• Jquery
• Javascript
• Bootstrap 4
• Electron
• MySQL

The platform works as a web service accessed directly by the App. It is not necessary to have a considerable space in the Mobile Phone. 

Source Code: https://github.com/RodrigoDornelles/upf-jjg-opportunities

The theory of change is based on changing the reality of vulnerable people that enter the App, improving their knowledge, skills and abilities demanded by the job market. This way, accessing jobs or setting up a business, the change in quality of life of that person, that person´s family and also the community as a whole. It is supposed to have a positive impact in the regional development.

JJG App is currently been tested by JJG team. 

In one year, we hope to be serving one thousand people, and in five years 100,000 people.

Our goals within the next year is make the project familiar and accessible to the App. Within the next five years, we hope the App becomes reference in generating job opportunities and entrepreneurship.

First, there is a financial barrier, specially to develop marketing strategies., licensing and registering the App.

Another barrier is cultural, the access to communities.

We plan to overcome these barriers by participating in challenges such as MIT Solve. Also seeking partners, such as companies that seek to improve talents as a way of social responsibility, buying quotas of the App.

We are not registered as a organization yet, but the whole team is formed by professors and undergraduate and postgraduate students of University of Passo Fundo (Universidade de Passo Fundo - UPF)

In total, there are ten participants on our solution team.

Full-time staff: 4  (Juliana Birkan Azevedo; Marcos Eduardo Bertol; Rodrigo Dornelles; and Anderson Neckel).

Part-time staff: 6 (Roberto Dos Santos Rabello; Gillian Krein da Silva; Giovanna Francesca de Lima Mondin; Gabriela Jurk Erkmann; Guilherme Sallet Vieira; and Henrique Peter Derossi)

Because we are a multidisciplinary team, counting with people from Business Management, Information Technology (IT) and communication.

Currently, we are part of University of Passo Fundo (UPF).

It is a social business model. 

The value provided to the population we serve is the access to job opportunities and improvement of entrepreneurship skills, impacting positively in the quality of life of these people and their communities, by the challenges of JJG App.

The impact can be measured by how many users from the database could find a new job or set up their business.

The money companies use buying quotas will be used to give prizes and rewards (such as courses and certificates) for users.

Our financial sustainability comes from private companies that want to buy quotas of the App, but mainly from universities such as University of Passo Fundo, which is a community university, that needs to provide support for society as a whole, specially those in need. And also from challenges such as Solve MIT.

We applied to solve the Good Jobs and inclusive entrepreneurship challenge, because we want to join a supportive community of peers, funders, and experts to help improving our work,  through receiving mentorship and strategic advice from Solve and MIT networks.

Our partnership goals include professionals from the areas beforementioned (funding and revenue model, legal or regulatory matters, and marketing, media and exposure) that have the same purpose as we do, to bring better job opportunities and entrepreneurial skills for those in-need.

We do not have specific names in mind, but we would like to partner with companies that can leverage our project and help us spread it around the globe. Specially those that have the same purpose as we do, to bring better job opportunities and entrepreneurial skills for those in-need.

One of our target public is immigrants. If we receive the Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion, we will use the amount received to create an App totally aimed to refugees, based on JJG Opportunities, merging innovation, entrepreneurship and gamification.

If we receive the GM Prize on Good Jobs and Inclusive Entrepreneurship, we will use the amount received to design and launch an App totally aimed to inclusive entrepreneurship, based on JJG Opportunities, merging innovation, entrepreneurship and gamification.